Question regarding Skimmer and Cheato

Cramz07

New member
My DIY skimmer broke down in my sump so now i am using a Hang on...I am going to turn my sump into just a fuge. Can i have just a lot of cheato and carbon instead of a skimmer? Also if i can then how can i take a baffle out while there is still water in the fuge...lol if you even can...
 
I keep a lot of macros in my fuge and display. I tried going skimmerless, because a lot of people have found that plants like the water better without and because they supposedly clean it up enough. After 1 1/2 weeks I've had to turn it back on. I have horrible slime algae again after it had disappeared for months.
 
I'm trying to go without a skimmer. I'm at 20 ppm nitrates currently and havn't had a problem with nitrites and ammonia ever for the past year. its really just the nitrates that have been problematic. I have an inline DSB and am now developing an inline veg filter. I am also trying to set up a zooplankton reactor in the DSB tank, providing different pore sized sponges as habitat. this system is about 2 years old (i took about a year off, so to speak, with no skimmer and no water changes, nitrates went through the roof but no other problems. i even did top off with tap water for half the time). not to mention i have a mud sump with cheato (it grew huge during my hiatus and then died back to half size)

whether or not you can successfully get rid of your skimmer really depends on how your system is set up and stocking levels, water current, amount of establish live rock and sand, etc ,etc, etc

if you just yank your skimmer without setting up and establishing alternative methods to deal with nutrients then you're going to have problems i think
 
daniel,

i have mud in my sump. its not enough. i dont even know if its any better than fine grain sand. apparently it buffers minerals, too. there are so many variables at play, you can't simply say that with mud you dont have to use a skimmer.
 
Cramz07, you can use a DSB + chaeto + carbon, but you just have to be willing to do a 10% weekly water change. I'm a begginer though, so take this with a grain of salt. Good Luck!
 
About the baffle in the sump, could you post a pic, a diagram, or a description? You might not even need to remove the baffle.
 
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